Ever since 2004 Athens Olympics, Indian shooters have always been prospects for a Medal at the world’s elite sports event. For a country that is identified as the obesity and diabetic capital of the world, there has been little to rejoice beyond the colonial sport of cricketing adventures. The Tokyo Olympics served as oxygen for the medal starved sports lovers in India.
While there was a wave of celebration as Neeraj Chopra brought home India’s first Olympic Gold Medal in athletics with an astounding Javelin throw on 7th August. The celebrations continued with the Silver medals in the women’s 49 kg weightlifting courtesy Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and grappler Ravi Kumar Dahiya in the men’s freestyle 57 kg. Ace shuttler P. V. Sindhu, pugilist Lovlina Borgohain in the Women’s welterweight, wrestler Bajrang Punia and the scintillating performance from the Men’s Hockey team helped India bag 4 Bronze medals in Tokyo.
This was undoubtedly the most successful outing that any Indian contingent ever had in an extremely long time. But there was an uncanny sense of disappointment from the shooters who came back not only empty handed, but far below their own individual standards. The 15 member strong contingent boasted of some stellar shooters who were expected to win big at the world’s biggest sporting stage. In Tokyo, Saurabh Chaudhary was the lone Indian shooter to reach a final which seemed a step further backwards than Rio 2016 where out of a squad of 12, two managed to reach the final rounds of the quadrennial games in Brazil.
Manu Bhaker’s first Olympics did unsettle the nerves of the young 19 year old who had struck gold in multiple ISSF World cups, Doha Asian Championships and the Commonwealth games in Gold Coast. Apart from Equipment malfunctioning, her performance in the latter rounds slipped as her scores dipped as the competition progressed. Bhaker is definitely a shooter in the making and will carry the weight of the entire nation as a stronger and more fierce competitor as she ages with the right mix of experience and maturity.
The question many of the country’s sports lovers wonder is that can anyone take India’s mantle as high as the legendary shooters like Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Vijay Kumar? Well thankfully, the signs seem to be positive and reassuring. The best part of the sport is that these legends have also given time and effort to invest in the next generation of shooters. While they are being groomed by the National Rifle Association of India, the Government and iconic shooters like Dronacharya Jaspal Rana taking the responsibility of nurturing the next generation of shooters who aspire to emulate the heroics of their heroes.
It was heartwarming to see the Indian Tricolour fly high at the recently concluded ISSF Junior World Shooting Champions that were held in Lima, Peru last month. India topped the medal tally with 43 medals of which 17 were Gold, 16 Silver and 10 were Bronze. Their nearest rival the United States of America were distant second place winners with only 21 medals in their kitty which included 7 Golds, 8 Silvers and 6 Bronze medals. Italy with 10 medals finished third. For the Indian team, of the total 43 medals won, 26 medals were claimed by Pistol shooters while 9 came from Shotgun and 8 Medals were won by Rifle shooters.
Manu Bhaker struck Gold in the 10m Air Pistol with a score of 241.3 points. Her confidence and nerves needed a boost after her spell at the Tokyo Olympics. She bagged five medals in Lima which include four golds and a bronze. However, the surprise package came in the form of Naamya Kapoor, a 14 year old wonder girl from Delhi, who stole the thunder from her senior rivals as she won Gold in the 25m Pistol event. Camille Jedrzejewski of France settled for Silver while Manu took the Bronze for India.
India clean sweeped the Individual Men’s 25m Standard Pistol with Vijayveer Sidhu, Udhayveer Sidhu and Harsh Gupta claiming the top three medals. The Women’s Individual 25m Standard Pistol event had a similar result with Rhythm Sangwan winning the Gold, Niveditha Veloor Nair the Silver and Naamya Kapoor bagging the Bronze. India continued to dominate in the 50m Pistol event by claiming top three sports with a commendable show from Shikha Narwal, Esha Singh and Navdeep Kaur.
Every championship has its share of nail-biting finishes and the Men’s Individual 50m Pistol event went to the wire. While India once again swept all the medals, the element of surprise was that the top three were tied with identical scores of 549 and had to be separated by the count of inner 10s and/or the best last series. Arjun Singh Cheema was adjudged as the Winner, Shaurya Sarin was awarded the Silver, while Ajinkya Chavan settled for the Bronze. The overall performances from these young shooters needs a worthy applause. Ace shooter and renowned coach Jaspal Rana is of the opinion that these young shooters and their parents should still be patient and take their game ahead with caution.